About This Message
Wednesday night Bible study, and the walk through John stayed in chapter 13 — the whole chapter this time, the congregation reading and answering out loud. Pastor Roy Jones opened by tying the night to Sunday's sermon: operate under your own power and, when it gets difficult, you won't be able to fulfill the purpose God has for your life. Operate under the power of God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — and no matter how difficult it gets, you stay with the purpose. Then he gave the topic right off the bat, out of verses 17 and 34–35: stay with the commandment — at all costs, no matter what. Jesus is in His final hours, done with the crowds and the Pharisees, now sowing into the disciples who must carry the assignment after Him. The night walked it all: the Passover roots underneath the chapter, the foot washing, faith that stands on what it heard, the betrayer named by a psalm and a piece of bread, the new commandment of love, and Peter's promise — and its warning.
The Word — John 13
13Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:13 (NKJV)
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29 (NKJV)
1Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
2And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
4rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
5After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
John 13:1–5 (NKJV)
6Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
8Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
10Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
11For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
John 13:6–11 (NKJV)
12So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?
13You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
16Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
John 13:12–17 (NKJV)
17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
James 1:2–3 (NKJV)
10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts;
Malachi 3:10–11 (NKJV)
16“For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
Malachi 2:16 (NKJV)
18“I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’
19Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.
20Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
John 13:18–20 (NKJV)
9Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.
Psalm 41:9 (NKJV)
21When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”
22Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom He spoke.
23Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
24Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
25Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”
26Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
John 13:21–26 (NKJV)
27Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
28But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him.
29For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
30Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.
John 13:27–30 (NKJV)
31So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
32If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.
33Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.
34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:31–35 (NKJV)
5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
13And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:5, 13 (NKJV)
20“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Luke 15:20 (NKJV)
20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:20 (NKJV)
36Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
37Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”
38Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.
John 13:36–38 (NKJV)
The Message in a Sentence
Jesus spent His last night on earth giving His disciples one thing to carry after Him: the commandment — love one another as I have loved you, and do what you know. Pastor Jones's word is blunt: faith is not what you say; faith is what you do. You came to the commandment by hearing it — faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God — and you stay with it the same way, standing on what you heard when trials test it, when people talk, when your feelings argue, and when the pressure comes in the dark. Judas heard the same words, had his feet washed by the same hands, took bread from the same table — and walked out into the night. Peter swore he never would — and denied Him three times before the rooster crowed. The difference between the ones who stay and the ones who walk is not what they know. It's what they do. Blessed are you if you do them.
The Arc of the Message
Opening — Sunday's Power, Tonight's Commandment
After the opening prayer, he brought Sunday back into the room: your own power runs out when it gets difficult; God's power keeps you with the purpose. Then the topic, straight from the text before the reading even settled: verse 17 — "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" — and verses 34–35, the new commandment and its proof. Stay with the commandment, at all costs. Jesus has finished with the crowds; now He is preparing the disciples, because the assignment is about to be handed to them — and the way they'll carry it is by staying with the commandment, empowered by the Holy Spirit, refusing the fear the enemy sends.
Development — Blood on the Door, a Towel, a Sop, a Commandment
He started under the chapter, at the Passover itself: the lamb killed, the blood over the door, the death angel passing over — and even Egyptians who obeyed the commandment were covered, because they stayed with what God said. Then faith: it comes by hearing, and genuine faith stands on what it heard no matter what comes — his own testimony of tithing on workman's comp after a bad car accident, with more in hand than when he worked overtime, while God rebuked the devourer. The disciples' argument over greatness got answered from the floor: Jesus took the lowest of the lowest position, and Teacher-and-Lord washing feet means nobody is too big to serve — your reward comes from the Lord, who keeps the record and rewards what is done in secret, no matter how much people talk. Verse 17 was pressed hard: knowing versus doing, and the Father's preference standing above our rights. Then the betrayer: the psalm named him, the sop marked him, Satan entered fully — Judas had been washed and fed and still walked out, because God won't override a mind made up for wrong. And over it all, the new commandment: love as I loved you — the love that keeps no record of wrongs, like the father who ran to the prodigal and never rehearsed his failures.
Landing — Big Words, and the Rooster
The night closed with Peter. "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake." He meant it — and Jesus answered with the rooster: before it crows, three denials. The arrest would come in the middle of the night, in the dark, the way Judas had already gone out into the dark. It's one thing to confess the commandment at the table, in the light, among friends. The test is whether you stay with it when they come for Him at night and the questions start. Stay with the commandment.
Key Points
In His Own Words
Illustrations From the Message
The Car Accident and the Tithe
Pastor Jones told it from his own life. He was in a bad car accident — they said he would die, and he wouldn't live. He was out of work on compensation, something he'd never been on in his life. But by then he had already fallen in love with God — loved Him with all his soul, all his mind, all his might — and he had read the Word and believed it. So even in that season, on the little money he was getting, he was still paying his tithes and offerings. And he found himself having more money out of work on comp than when he was working forty hours and overtime. He quoted what God said back to him: give Him what belongs to Him, and "I will rebuke the devourer" — the stuff that's been taking advantage of you, overcharging you — "and I will open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing you won't have room to receive." His point wasn't money. It was this: no matter what you're facing or going through, stay with the Word. God has a plan. It's going to be tested — Jesus was preparing the disciples because their faith was about to be tested too.
The Daughter and the Movie
His seventeen-year-old daughter called: "Dad, can I go to the movie or not?" He said, "Yeah, you can go — but I'd prefer you not." Now watch it, he said. She had the right to go; he'd given it. If she went, she was in her right. But if she stayed — Daddy was overjoyed, because she loved her daddy more than she operated in her feelings and emotions. And God will fix everything else. He told it against Malachi 2:16 — God hates divorce — and the hard question in it: even where God gives a right (he named the adultery exception), He turns around and says, in effect, "I'd rather you not." Sometimes we have to learn to wait on the Lord instead of exercising every right we have. The Father's preference, chosen out of love, is its own obedience.
SOIL — Go Deeper This Week
S — Scripture: Read John 13:34–35 again. What exactly is "new" about this commandment — and what does Jesus say it will prove, and to whom?
O — Observation: Sit with verse 30: Judas "went out immediately. And it was night." He'd had his feet washed by Jesus's own hands and taken bread from Jesus's own hand that same hour. What do you notice about how much love a man can receive — and still walk out?
I — Interpretation: Set verse 17 ("blessed are you if you do them") beside Romans 10:17 ("faith comes by hearing"). One verse is about hearing; the other about doing. Why does Pastor Jones insist the two can't be separated — that faith is "not what you say, but what you do"?
L — Life application: Name one commandment you already know and have not done — one place where your confession and your life walk in different directions. What is one concrete act of doing it this week?
Dig a Little Deeper
1. The Egyptians who put the blood on their doors were covered — though the feast wasn't "theirs." What does that tell you about how God treats obedience from people on the outside looking in? And who is on the outside right now that you could help bring under the covering?
2. When Pastor Jones obeyed God and left the place he was, people talked — "God ain't told him that" — and God told him their talk wouldn't stop one blessing. Whose talk is slowing down something you know God told you to do?
3. Peter meant every word of "I will lay down my life for Your sake" — and still denied Him three times before the rooster crowed. Where is your faith most likely to be tested in the dark, and what would staying with the commandment look like there, specifically?
This Week's Challenge
Take the one commandment you already know and have not done, and do it once this week — concretely, whatever it costs. And serve one person in secret: no post, no mention, nobody told. Let the One who keeps the record be the only One who knows.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, You gave us a commandment, not a suggestion: love one another as You have loved us. Forgive us for the times we said "Lord, Lord" and quoted the Word while walking away from it — make our faith something we do. Keep us from Judas's road: when the enemy puts a wrong thing in our hearts, give us grace not to give in to it fully. Keep us from Peter's night too — when the pressure comes in the dark, hold us to what we confessed in the light. Teach us to lay down even our rights when the Father would rather we wait, and to keep no record of anybody's wrongs. We want to stay with the commandment, at all costs, no matter what. In Your name, amen.